Barry Jenkins Is a Man of Many Excellent Layers

Film directors, like fashion designers, tend to be creative uniform dressers, wearing their artistic point of view literally on their sleeves. Alfred Hitchcock loved black suits. Wes Anderson is committed to corduroy. Spike Lee is never without his round glasses and Knicks gear. Barry Jenkins, the genius behind Moonlight, isn’t as easy to pin down in that way. He has...classic good taste? He loves suits and ties? Sometimes he wears a cardigan? Scan the 39-year-old’s press and red carpet photos, and you'll see that Jenkins dresses well, but he isn’t broadcasting “creative genius” with his attire. There are no bolo ties. He doesn’t have an endless supply of Hawaiian-print shirts. He just looks righteous.

Earlier this week, at a screening of his new film If Beale Street Could Talk in Santa Monica, Jenkins wore what everyone wears in L.A. in the winter: denim. Specifically, a pair of slim black jeans and an indigo trucker jacket buttoned up like a shirt. He looked handsome, classic, relaxed. Which maybe just goes to show: While your clothes are an expression of who you are, that doesn’t mean they always need to give the whole story away. As much as we respect wild-card moves, a trucker jacket has the advantage of being functional, affordable, and deeply flattering. Which brings us a little closer to understanding Barry Jenkins's personal style: Dude just...gets it.